Urge the International Olympic Committee to Ban All Equestrian Events

Update (July 27, 2024): Rider Carlos Parro was slapped with a yellow card warning by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) after the ruling body received PETA’s complaint yesterday. Parro should have been eliminated, but we’re glad the FEI took action—it’s looking over its shoulder now—and all the riders will now be under increased scrutiny.

Here’s the FEI’s e-mail to PETA:

“The FEI can confirm receipt of the letter and accompanying photographs from PETA highlighting concerns about the conduct of Brazilian athlete Carlos Parro.

“The FEI Officials have issued a yellow warning card as the action of the athlete could have caused unnecessary discomfort to the horse. Additionally, the Ground Jury has directly addressed the situation with the athlete and the chef d’Equipe of Brazil.

“The FEI Stewards are aware of this incident and will be vigilant at all times for any behaviour that is not in line with horse welfare and are prepared to take immediate action if such behaviour occurs.”
—Fédération Équestre Internationale

Update (July 26, 2024): Another day, another instance of horse abuse by an Olympic rider. PETA has obtained photos of what appears to be a Brazilian Olympic equestrian team member forcing a horse’s neck into an extremely painful hyperflexed position so exaggerated that the neck appears deformed. The banned training method, known as “rollkur,” compromises breathing and can damage the spine and lead to long-term health issues. PETA has sent an urgent complaint to the International Equestrian Federation demanding that the rider be eliminated from competition and that the abused horse undergo a thorough veterinary examination.

This latest horrific incident adds to the growing pile of evidence that equestrian “sports” have no place in the Olympics. Take action below by urging the International Olympic Committee to ban them.

Original text:

Yet again, an Olympic rider has been caught abusing a horse to force the animal to behave in an entirely unnatural way, simply for her own glory. A horrific video has surfaced showing British Olympic equestrian team member Charlotte Dujardin repeatedly whipping a horse’s legs “in the manner of ‘old-style abuse of elephants at the circus’” during a training session. Dujardin, who flippantly referred to the abuse she inflicted on the horse as “an error of judgment,” was kicked out of the Paris Olympic Games.

It seems as though this “sport” is chock-full of humans who commit “errors of judgement.”

Take a look at these incidents—and PETA’s viral video, viewed nearly 1 million times—from the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics:

A German pentathlon competitor was riding a frightened horse named Saint Boy when she was filmed whipping him during the competition after he refused to enter the course. As the rider’s frustration increased, her coach, Kim Raisner, was shown hitting the clearly startled Saint Boy. After the incident, Raisner was rightfully expelled from the Olympics.

Jet Set appeared to be injured in the middle of a cross-country course during the 2020 Olympic Games. Veterinarians diagnosed the injury as an irreparable ligament rupture in one of his legs, and he was euthanized.

#BREAKING

Cian O’Connor and Kilkenny withdrawn from Olympic team showjumping after horse suffers nosebleed in individual eventhttps://t.co/Ev3SnySmNg pic.twitter.com/K0gpLXDPAK

— Independent Sport (@IndoSport) August 4, 2021

During another show-jumping event at the same Olympic Games, blood poured from Kilkenny’s nose but Irish rider Cian O’Connor forced the horse to finish the course. Nothing was done by officials to stop the competition to check on him.

Abuse seems to be pervasive at lower levels of the sport, too. In 2021, show jumper Kevin Lemke aggressively and repeatedly hit a horse named Good Luck at an event in California. We reported the incident, and Lemke was suspended.

 

 

 

 

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After hearing from PETA and following a complaint from PETA Germany, the international governing body of the modern pentathlon announced that horseback riding will be replaced with obstacle course racing. That’s a start.

But here’s the bottom line: Horses don’t volunteer to compete—they’re compelled to submit to violence and coercion.

Please call on the International Olympic Committee to remove all equestrian events immediately and leave the Olympics to the willing participants.

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